Following the explosion, the suspect fled to Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, which is far from the Taksim area where the blast occurred, according to Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul.
Before she was arrested at 2:50 a.m., Istanbul police checked 1,200 security cameras and conducted raids at 21 different locations where the woman was linked.
“The Turkish interior minister said that the police had a voice recording of a talk among PKK members that said she should be killed before police captures her,” Koseoglu said.
“The minister said the next step for the perpetrators was to escape to Greece before being captured by Turkish police.”
Tension between Turkey and Greece has escalated over recent months, largely surrounding disputes over border issues.